Fancamp tests Kourouba

Fancamp Exploration (FNC-V) has begun pit-sampling a promising gold-in-soil anomaly at its Kourouba property in southwestern Mali.

Kourouba covers 200 sq. km of the regional Kalana greenstone belt. The belt is known to host mesothermal vein-type gold deposits, disseminated sulphide-associated mineralization and mobilized vein-type mineralization.

Fancamp acquired the property in mid-1999, based on results from a government-sponsored geochemical survey that revealed anomalous gold values in an area measuring 3 by 2.5 km. Values in the core of the zone were confirmed shortly after the acquisition, and the current program will test the anomaly over its entire strike length.

Fancamp notes that the anomaly appears to sit at the convergence of several lineaments or faults. It also notes that the anomaly is twice as large as the one that led to the discovery of the Morila gold deposit, 135 km to the southeast, by London-listed Randgold Resources. That company recently sold a 40% interest in Morila to AngloGold (AU-N) for US$132 million in cash.

Morila hosts open-pit reserves of 42.7 million tonnes grading 3.77 grams gold per tonne. The mine is scheduled to start producing by year-end, with annual production pegged at 420,000 oz. over the next 14 years. Life-of-mine cash operating costs are estimated at US$137 per oz.